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Local 306: Elgin County




Certified Organic Oats

50 acres to be harvested the end of July near Aylmer.  Interested - call Chris Dancey at (519) 773 - 5273.

Southern Ontario Draft Horse Basic Workshop - Sparta near St. Thomas

 Aug. 12 – 14 at Orchard Hill Farm
In this three day workshop you will learn basic skills such as feeding, grooming, hoof care, harnessing, hitching and driving one and two horses. You will get experience on various vehicles and field implements as well as an introduction to plowing with a riding plow. We will also do some logging in the woods. No previous horse experience is necessary. A $50 deposit is required to hold your place in this workshop. The Level I workshop is limited to 6 – 7 participants.
For more information: Ken Laing, 519-775-2670 or kmlaing@orchardhillfarm.ca, www.orchardhillfarm.ca,
Cost: $500 plus GST, including meals. Accommodation available.

You can locate Orchard Hill Farm on the Local Farm Locator map below.

  

Local Farm Locator

We are currently adding NFU members to the locator map. Click on the map below to go to the Local Farm Locator page and zoom into the Elgin County area. Then click on the markers to locate individual farms. On this page we have included NFU members that: 1) have products for sale on the farm, 2) sell to restaurants, or 3) attend a farmers' market.

You can also do a Product Search at the top of the Local Farm Locator page. Try entries like: wine, herbs, CSA, chicken, lamb, beef, eggs, strawberries, asparagus, tomatoes or sweet potatoes.

Current markers include: Orchard Hill Farm; McSmith's Organic Farm; Mazak Farm; Quai du Vin Winery; Heritage Line Herbs; Canadian Drying Technologies / Weninger Farms; Koscik's Tomato Greenhouses; Sheep Products from Jocelyn; Locust Grove Farm; Wardcrest Farms.

Elgin NFU members wishing to have a Local Farm Marker created to advertise their products can call Chris Dancey at (519)773-5273.


 

Genetically Modified Crops and Glyphosate

Recently released:  Farm Update 2010 - A new Decade of Genetically Modified Crops in Ontario

 

Dr. Don M. Huber, Emeritus Professor, PurdueUniversity recently spoke in London, Ontario, on the effects of glyphosate on the health of soils, plants, animals, and humans. An excerpt from the report's SUMMARY is below and the full report is available by clicking on the title.
 
 
SUMMARY: Glyphosate is a strong, broad-spectrum nutrient chelator that inhibits plant enzymes responsible for disease resistance so that plants succumb from pathogenic attack. This also predisposes RR and non-RR plants to other pathogens. The introduction of such an intense mineral chelator as glyphosate into the food chain through accumulation in feed, forage, and food, and root exudation into groundwater, could pose significant health concerns for animals and humans and needs further evaluation. Chelation immobilization of such essential elements as Ca (bone), Fe (blood), Mn, Zn (liver, kidney), Cu, Mg (brain) could directly inhibit vital functions and predispose to disease.  ...

Climate Change

 is having a dramatic impact on agriculture worldwide, just as agriculture is having an enormous impact on climate change. The titles below that are highlighted in green are linked to articles that address these topics.

Pat Mooney, of ETC Group, spoke at the national NFU conference in Ottawa on November 26.  A summary of his presentation states that, "Family farmers around the world hold the key to survival of the planet..." and he offers some startling facts related to agri-business. On December 14, ETC Group released a comprehensive report at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen called Who Will Feed Us? To read this report and other papers related to climate change visit www.etcgroup.org .

In February 2003 the NFU presented a brief to the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry called Climate Change in Canada: Mitigation and Adaptation. It is now clear that almost 8 years ago the authors were correct with their far-sighted predictions. It is also clear that too much of their good advice was not taken and we are now closer to the tipping point that will dramatically affect our climate. It’s time to implement the mitigation recommendations.

What is sustainability and how does it relate to farming?  In the spring of 2009, the Post Carbon Institute released a report called the Sustainable Agriculture Whitepaper that offers suggestions. 

How can we transition our food and farming to meet the challenges that peak oil and climate change will present in the future. Again the Post Carbon Institute offers The Food and Farming Transition report to help us think through the process of transition.

The Humane Society of the United States has produced a thought provoking, well-researched document called The Impact of Animal Agriculture on Global Warming and Climate Change. Visit their website for other documents on related topics.

According to a recently released report from Europe called Organic farming – a key to solving the climate problem, “Organic farming has a number of objectives, such as to avoid damage to the environment, to promote biodiversity, to manage attractive landscapes, to keep livestock in a manner that fulfils their welfare requirements, and to produce good food. It also provides a key to solving the problem of climate change: organic farming is an alternative that uses resources sparingly, is climate-friendly, and offers significant scope for climate change adaptation.”
 
The Tradition Town - Moving Toward a Low-Carbon Society is an excellent article by Monica Carless in the Jan/Feb 2010 edition of Natural Life Magazine.
 
Upcoming Events in 2010

Tuesday, September 21 to Saturday, September 25 the NFU will have a booth at the International Plowing Match east of St. Thomas. Visit the booth to view a virtual tour of Elgin NFU farms.

Past Events in Chronilogical Order 

Events in 2008

2008 was the first year for a National Farmers Union local in Elgin County. Getting to know our members and offering education to farmers and consumers was our main focus. 

 
September 30th, the Elgin NFU sponsored the free showing of the new documentary The World According to Monsanto at the amazing Old Town Hall Theatre (OTHT) in Aylmer. We worked in cooperation with the Aylmer environmental group called GRASSROOTS to begin this monthly series of documentaries.
 
November 1st, President Chris Dancey and her husband Wil hosted a dinner for NFU members at their home. Local food and wine were featured and presentations were given by Premier’s Agri-Food Innovation Award winners from Elgin. They included Clovermead Apiaries, Heritage Line Herbs and Weninger Farms. Photo was taken during John Weninger's presentation.

 
Events in 2009
 

February 24, Chris Dancey, Betty Bergen, Tom Benner, John Weninger and Melissa Benner (not in photo) were elected to the Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting of the Elgin NFU. Following the AGM there was a public showing of the excellent documentary The Future of Food. An article and this photo were printed in the Farm Edition of the Aylmer Express on March 4, 2009.      Photo credit: Rob Perry of the Aylmer Express.
 

March 10th, the Elgin NFU sponsored the free showing of The World According to Monsanto in West Lorne in cooperation with the EcoElgin Environmental Society.
 
June 30th, we held a potluck dinner for NFU and GRASSROOTS members.


Green text indicates a linked document.
An Environmental Bill of Rights submission was made to the Ministry of the Environment on July 27 by Chris Dancey. Also, Sludge Watch administrator Maureen Reilly made a comprehensive EBR submission based on her many years of research related to sludge issues. For a medical perspective, read the letter sent to the Minister of the Environment by Dr. Sharon Baker.

Our booth at the Aylmer Fair on August 6-9 featured posters about the spreading of Sewage Sludge on Farm Fields and Burning Plastic, as well as the large poster that was provided by the NFU.


 
November 14th, we had 10 participants in our workshop called Soil Analysis from a Geological Perspective. John Slack's presentation was excellent, with lots of discussion from the participants, and the weather was great for the afternoon session that was outside.

November 19, a Climate Change Roundtable, was sponsored by the Elgin NFU. Twenty concerned individuals from St. Thomas, London, Aylmer and St. Mary's took part in the discussion.


Front row: Ryan Dolby, Jessica Conlon, Chris Dancey, Natasha Oliver. Seated Jamie Hume, Martha Laing. Standing Rachel Muma, Maryanne MacDonald, Steve Sauder, Julie Berry-Imbert, Ian Edgar, Ken Laing, Dorothy Stolarski, Cory Morningstar, Jeremy Groves, Kent Buchanan, Tom Benner, Sandra Nesbitt, Wil Dancey   Photo by Betty Bergen

November 20, a group from the Climate Change Roundtable met with Jack Layton for lunch and further discussion related to Climate Change. Mr. Layton will be attending the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference during December.


Rachel Muma, Wil Dancey, Cory Morningstar, Jack Layton, Chris Dancey, Ryan Dolby, Ian Edgar

A LOCAL, NUTRITIOUS DONATION to the FOOD BANK

December 1, forty-five people attended the free showing of the documentary FOOD, INC.  Donated money has purchased 31 one kilogram jars of local, nutritious honey from Clovermead Bees and Honey for Aylmer's Corner Cupboard Food Bank.  Thanks to everyone for your support!

December 10, Chris Dancey, president of the Elgin NFU and Christy Hiemstra of Clovermead Bees and Honey presented 31 jars of honey to Liz McConnell of East Elgin Christmas Care and Blair Barons of the Corner Cupboard Food Bank.     Photo by Rob Perry

Events in 2010

February 5, the National Farmers Union was invited to a Rural Roundtable organized by the Liberal Party of Canada. Martin Driesse, president of the Oxford NFU, and Chris Dancey, president of the Elgin NFU, were seated at the table next to Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.

The title of the event, Bridging the rural-urban divide: Opportunity and quality of life for all Canadians. The topics included: The need for a National Food Policy; Doctors for Rural Communities; Tackling the Rural Infrastructure Deficit; and the Foundation of the New Green Economy.
 
Approximately 100 people, representing a wide range of professions within rural Ontario, and many of the Liberal Party’s rural candidates took part in the day long discussions. The National Farmers Union was represented by four local board members and one national board member.

February 23, the Elgin NFU held its Annual General Meeting and then showed two free documentaries at the Old Town Hall Theatre in Aylmer.

In Transition - This powerful, positive documentary demonstrates what some 'transition towns' around the world are currently doing to build resilient communities and highlights their accomplishments. (50 min.)

Transition movement visit  www.transitionnetwork.org
Greenzine - Transition Peterborough site www.transitiontownpeterborough.ca
Transition Culture has interesting articles and videos www.transitionculture.org

The Power of Community – How Cuba Survived Peak Oil - Cubans have demonstrated how a life with less oil can create positive change. (53 min.)

March 2-6   BRING FOOD HOME conference in Kitchener, ON
 
The older I get – the harder it is to impress me. So when I tell you that Wil and I attended an exhilarating, educational conference called BRING FOOD HOME and we were both truly impressed by what we saw, heard and felt - it must have been an exceptional event.
 
Most farm related events are attended by hoards of grey-haired folk. Many of us love farming, but we are worried about the future of the family farm and the health of the planet. If what I experienced is an indication of the groundswell of passionate, intelligent, motivated young adults that are working hard to make our food system sustainable – I can feel more hopeful for the future.
 
BRING FOOD HOME – A conference connecting ONTARIO FARMS and FOOD NETWORKS brought together a diverse range of topics including:
  • Training for emerging farmers
  • Community food security
  • Strengthening regional food economics
  • Sustaining food production: farm, city and countryside
  • Policy and planning
The Elgin NFU now has memberships in Sustain Ontario and FoodNet Ontario, two of the organizing groups for this conference. 

Chris


March 29 an event called Local Food Connection was held at the London Hunt and Country Club for farmers and food buyers to meet one-on-one and to explore opportunities to do business together. On behalf of the NFU, Karen Eatwell and Chris Dancey worked on the organizing committee.


The products we choose make a difference, because they can contain toxic chemicals that have negative health effects for the workers that make the product, the neighbors of the production facilities, and the consumer of the product, as well as their impact on the EARTH.  Here are Ten Tips to Help You Choose and Use Safer Products for Household Cleaning.  (click on green text)

On March 30th the Elgin NFU sponsored the showing of the documentary Chemerical. It is suggested in this movie, as well as on many websites, that we can make our own laundry detergent that is both cheaper and safer. I spent time looking for the ingredients in the following recipe and here are the disturbing results.

Home-made Powder Laundry Soap

1 cup pure bar soap (grated or very finely chopped)
       Both the Ivory(Proctor and Gamble) and Sunlight (Unilever) pure bar soaps contain fragrance.
Solution: Make your own bar soap. Heidi Hill offers tips at http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/health-well-being/stories/making-soap-5-tip...

1/2 cup washing soda
       The Arm and Hammer So Clean! Super Washing Soda contains fragrance and surfactant, if purchased in Canada. NO ingredients are listed on the package, so I had to call the Canadian distributor Church and Dwight Canada Corp to obtain this information.
If you want A&H washing soda available in Canada without additives, please let this company know by calling 1-866-931-9741 or visit www.churchdwight.ca to send a note.

1/2 cup borax

Combine ingredients and store in container with lid. Use 1 tablespoon for light loads; 2 tablespoons for heavy loads.


The following is a quote from the EMPRESS OF DIRT:
"Many people seem to assume that our governments regulate these products to make sure they are safe for us. But this is just not the case. It seems incredible to me that stricter actions are taken in censoring books than controlling the manufacturing and use of known carcinogens and toxins."

For the whole blog and recipes visit:  Chemerical and Natural Cleaning Products

Also, the David Suzuki Foundation has a Health section that deals with many of the issues related to toxic products.  http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/health/

Below are a few articles to illustrate why it is so important that we make an effort to find environmentally safe, fragrance-free products.

Bacterial Timebomb in our Drains and Rivers
Dirty Dozen Chemical in Cosmetics
Laundry Soap and Air Fresheners
Fabric Softener 
Toxins Common in Baby Products
For Earth's Sake - and Ours!

June 9, author Sarah Elton read from her new book at the London Central Library and later went to Garlics with London area ‘locavores’. Visible in the photo are Wil Dancey (Dancey Family Farm) and Peter Duenk (Eatwell Foods), Sarah is next wearing black, and on her right Melanie Doerksen (Slow Food London), Rose White (City Farm), Tiffany Roschkow (Eco Living London & GreenDrinks), Robin Harvey (Community Gardens London) , Chris Dancey (NFU) and Kelly Hunt (Eat Local London).

Sarah Elton's new book is titled Locavore: from farmers' fields to rooftop gardens - how Canadians are changing the way we eat. It outlines with precision how Canada lost self-sufficiency in food and recounts with joy and enthusiasm the stories of individual farmers, co-ops, community projects and businesses which will bring us back to a more localized food system that won't cost the Earth. www.thelocavore.ca 
 
Saturday, July 3 a POTLUCK dinner for NFU and Ecological Farmers' Association (EFAO) of Ontario members at the home of Chris and Wil Dancey following the EFAO tour in the area. 

Karen Maitland, Ann Slater, Betty Bergen, Chris Dancey holding her new puppy Haggis, Joan Brady and Karen Eatwell. 


Executive & Contact:
Chris Dancey (President, RR # 1, Aylmer, N5H 2R1, 519-773-5273)
Betty Bergen (Treasurer)
John Weninger (Director)
Melissa Benner (Director)
Ian Edgar (Director)